1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic device and, more particularly, to an electronic device and a power control module for controlling a starting process of the electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a tendency to automation and digitization, various kinds of computer systems have been already applied to individuals, families, and various kinds of industrial and commercial application fields. To achieve a market scale or to be convenient for interchangeable designs and later maintenance between different manufacturers, various kinds of the computer systems mostly follow a set of hardware design specifications during design development of hardware components.
For example, at present, in computer hardware, a specification of a common motherboard is an advanced technology extended (ATX) specification. In an electronic device conforming to the ATX specification, when the electronic device is connected with commercial power while it is not started, a low first operating voltage or a standby voltage (Vsb) is existed on the electronic device. At present, the common first operating voltage is about 3 to 5 V. A power button can be disposed at the electronic device. When a user operates (such as pressing) the power button, a control signal representing a system start is provided for an ATX power supply in the electronic device, and according to the control signal, the ATX power supply can sequentially provide various kinds of system working voltages needed by operation of various kinds of the electronic devices and can provide the system working voltages for each internal circuit module in the electronic device. The system working voltages can include various kinds of voltage levels, such as 0 V, 3 V, 5 V, and 12 V, needed by the electronic device.
However, according to different applications, hardware configurations of the electronic devices are different, and some electronic devices, such as an industrial machine, a game machine, or some automatic machines on production lines, do not have the power buttons. The electronic devices for industrial applications may not have the power buttons in themselves. After the electronic device is connected with an external power source, if no control signal representing the system start is provided by the power button for the ATX power supply, the electronic device cannot be started successfully.